news stories
Friday lunch grace
May 29, 2015 / By Christian Vischi / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Friday’s grace before lunch at the 2015 session of Annual Conference was provided by Ariel Gold and her son, Elijah, who are Jewish Americans living in Ithaca. They spent the 2014 end-of-the-year holiday season traveling to the West Bank. They will share about that experience during the 21st annual authentic Palestinian buffet hosted by Upper New York’s Task Force on Peace and Justice in Palestine/Israel. …more
UMCOR collection at AC ‘15
May 29, 2015 / By Kathleen Rubino / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
During Thursday’s day-long collection at the 2015 Annual Conference session, Conference members contributed 120 flood buckets and more than 50 other UMCOR relief supply kits to be used for disaster relief around the world. …more
Bishop Webb auctioneer extraordinaire
May 29, 2015 / By Kathleen Rubino / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Upper New York Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb had a small request Friday morning: a cup of coffee. Well, good things come in threes, and he received three hot cups of Joe. “I value coffee so much, but I value Africa 360 so much more,” Bishop Webb said. And with that, he added another item to his resume: Auctioneer. Bishop Webb auctioned the three cups of coffee to raise …more
Conference body affirms closure, discontinuance of churches
May 29, 2015 / By Christian Vischi / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Members at the 2015 session of the Upper New York Annual Conference affirmed the closure of churches through discontinuance or abandonment. The discontinued or abandoned churches include: Albany District Broadway United Methodist Church of Rensselaer (Discontinued) at 1550 Broadway, most recently served by Local Pastor Edward Whited Hagaman United Methodist Church (Discontinued) at 122 S. Pawling St., most recently served by Local Pastor Cynthia Leonard Crossroads District Erieville UMC (Discontinued) at 2600 Erieville Road, …more
Bishop Devadhar: Notes, reflections on The Lord’s Prayer
May 29, 2015 / By Christian Vischi / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
A familiar face came home to lead Bible Study on a familiar piece of scripture. Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar of the New England Conference gave the first part of his Bible Study on The Lord’s Prayer found in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In his introduction of Bishop Devadhar, Upper New York Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb recounted Bishop Devadhar’s lineage to the episcopal post …more
Resolutions, petitions, and conversation circles: Human sexuality at AC ’15
May 29, 2015 / By Kathleen Rubino / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Following Thursday’s conversation circles (May 28) – where participants gathered in groups of 10-12 people to discuss eight resolutions and petitions related to human sexuality – at the 2015 session of Annual Conference, voting members immediately voted on those eight resolutions and petitions. Because of a rule in the Organizational Motion approved on Wednesday, the eight resolutions and petitions that refer to human sexuality were discussed in conversation circles and …more
Life is eternal, love is immortal
May 29, 2015 / By Kathleen Rubino / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The Rev. Dr. Theodore J. Weeden Sr., retired, made a trip to the Holy land. He took a picture of a sunrise on the Sea of Galilee and another of the “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem. He exposed the same film twice, resulting in a “miraculous” creation of a Galilean sunrise emerging from the “Wailing Wall.” “The sunrise is God’s promise that …more
Equitable Compensation recommendations adopted
May 29, 2015 / By Kathleen Rubino / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The power of amendment is infectious. Judy Craigmile, a lay member at First United Methodist Church in Phoenix, proposed two amendments for the first time – and on the spot. The amendments were related to the Housing Policy under the recommendations from the Commission on Equitable Compensation. The first resolution was a change of linguistics; the second added language to the resolution to include the potential replacement of damaged contents …more
Election results through Thursday’s lunch period
May 28, 2015 / By Christian Vischi / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
With 24 hours of plenary session behind them, members at the 2015 Annual Conference session were less than one-sixth of the way toward electing 28 representatives needed for conferences in 2016. Three laity – Dr. Scott Johnson (elected on Wednesday), Greg Forrester, and Riley O’Flynn – and one clergy member – the Rev. Bill Allen – have been elected to date. The first six clergy and laity elected are delegates to the …more
Young Adults ‘Pass The Baton’ at Thursday morning worship
May 28, 2015 / By Kathleen Rubino / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Young Adult Ministry led morning worship on Thursday, May 28, at the 2015 Annual Conference session. As Laurel O’Connor, field coordinator for Africa 360, said, “It’s all about how we tell the story … a Biblical story told not as much by words but by actions.” So that’s exactly what one young adult did: took action. Theresa Eggleston acted out the stories of Moses and …more